Christmas Dinner Toy Collections

Please bring your Toy Donations to church this Sunday THROUGH December 14th or if you have difficulty getting them to church in a timely manner you can contact Faye Ferrell ferrellf8@gmail.com 201-7552 or Sherry Zerbe szerbe1@earthlink.net 718-7249 and we can make arrangements for pick up.

We will accept new or CLEAN, GENTLY used UNWRAPPED toys for Newborn to 12 years old. We often do not have adequate items for babies and older children. Babies can use diapers, wet wipes board books, rattles, rubber duckies, pull toys, stacking toys, soft balls and the like.

Preschool/kindergarten kids love cars and trucks, baby dolls and accessories, wooden puzzles, building blocks etc. Suggestions for older children: Regulation sized balls, Cosmetic Gift boxes, Journals, Picture Frames, Wallets, Watches, Advanced Puzzles, Strategy games, Scarves/gloves/hats; Gift Certificates (Best Buy/Half Price Books/Barnes and Noble, etc).

One more important note:  We will be collecting wrapping paper and tape on every Sunday between now and December 14.  At this time, all parents appear to be interested in selecting their children’s gifts and, therefore, there may be no gifts to wrap on the following Sunday.  Therefore, please bring in your wrapping paper donations early so we can provide these items to parent.

Posted in Uncategorized.

Volunteer! Christmas Day Dinner – 2014

The following are the volunteer opportunities we need to fill for the CDD.  Below is the date, timeframe and number of people still needed.  You can volunteer for more than one area provided the times don’t overlap.  If you are interested in helping with any of these areas, please let us know by sending an email to christmasdinner@uucchc.org or by calling the CDD hotline at (317) 563-1396.  If you have questions or need more information, please contact Pat Pollack at patnumb1@aol.com.

The CDD committee thanks you for your support!

 

December 24 Volunteer jobs

  • 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. – Pickup food at GFS to take to fairgrounds –1 person with large vehicle or truck
  • 12:30 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. – Work on turkey and ham, includes carving – 4 people
  • 2:00.- 4:00 p.m. – Kitchen clean-up

 

December 25 Volunteer jobs

  • 10:00 – Noon – Drivers to deliver meals – many people needed
  • 11:30 a.m. pick-up and 1:00 p.m. ride home – Drivers for rides to/from fairgrounds
  • 11:30 a.m. pick-up and 1:00 p.m. ride home – Drivers for rides to/from fairgrounds – few people available
  • 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. – Greeters – 2 people
  • 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. – Serving line/helpers – 21 people
  • 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. – Leftover prep & kitchen clean-up – 3 people
  • 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. – Inventory/packing decorations and kitchen supplies – 3 people
  • 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. – Hall clean-up

 

Desserts

We need desserts for the noon meal at the fairgrounds that are easy to serve, easy to transport, need no refrigeration and can serve 8-10 people.  Desserts can’t contain nuts or peanut butter. These desserts must be delivered to the Fairgrounds by 9:30 a.m. on Christmas Day or delivered to the church by 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Posted in Uncategorized.

Growing Unitarian Universalism

We were asked by the UUA’s Congregational Life Innovation and Network Specialist, Tandi Rogers to submit a post regarding our rapid growth in families for her blog Growing Unitarian Universalism. Our very own Director of Religious Exploration, Renee Bowman submitted her blog and it is online! See it here:   http://growinguu.blogs.uua.org/

Posted in Uncategorized.

Project Homeless, Inc. – Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser Nov. 15, 2014

In support of social justice:

Please consider attending and supporting Project Homeless, Inc.’s Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser on:
Saturday, November 15th, 2014

from 3pm-7pm

Senior Services Building

1201 Sycamore Lane, Danville, IN

Dinner includes:

Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, dessert and a drink

 

There will be a silent aution, gospel music and a free will offering.

 

Project Homelss, Inc is a 501(c)3 organization that servs the needs of the homeless. Services include:

  • Providing a hot meal once a week to the homeless in Indianapolis with special meals served on the holidays.
  • Distribution of backpacks filled with soap, toopaste and toothbrushes, razors, towels, socks,gloves, hats and underwear twice each year.
  • Distribution of blankets, coats and havy clothing during cold wather.

 

Project Homeless, Inc.

821 S.Lyons Avenue, Indianpolis, IN 46241

(317) 626-9876

Without a Defined Place in Life

Posted in Social Justice.

A Community Thanksgiving – West Bridge

Information courtesy of:

West Bridge Church
1521 S. County Road 75 W
Danville, IN  46122

info@westbridgedanville.com

Thanksgiving Meal Delivery:

Thanksgiving-Delivery-Image-Rotator

Information courtesy of West Bridge Church in Danville, IN

Thanksgiving should be a day for celebrating the good things in our lives, not worrying about providing a meal. West Bridge Church wants to prepare and deliver Thanksgiving meals to needy families in Hendricks County. The meals will include turkey, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, rolls and pie.
The turkeys and pies will be baked and sliced for serving by our church volunteers in their homes and brought to a central serving area at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds early on Thanksgiving morning.
The remainder of the meal will be prepared and delivered by church volunteers.

We believed we would provide around 300 meals to needy neighbors in our community…In 2013 we served over 500!

We are very excited about Thanksgiving 2014!.
Download the order form here.
Want to help? Email info@westbridgedanville.com.

Posted in Social Justice.

“Let’s Talk about …BULLYING: a Christian response to bullying”

Information courtesy of our friends from Open Table United Church of Christ in Brownsburg:

“Let’s Talk about …BULLYING: a Christian response to bullying”

5691903766_47fa0f56e6_oBullies are an unfortunate fact of life at school, at home and many other places. Most people have encountered the bully at some time. The sting of being singled out for humiliation is a painful experience. Gay and lesbian students especially are often targeted by the bully. The result has been psychological damage, alienation of individuals and sometimes even suicide.

“No matter who you are, no matter where you mare on life’s journey, you are welcome here” is the message of the United Church of Christ. Open Table UCC proclaims a Gospel that affirms God’s love for all people regardless of sexual orientation and identity. We affirm that Jesus stood beside the oppressed and the downtrodden and that Jesus stands with the bullied.

Open Table is offering a four week series on bullying that looks at bullying from various perspectives and offers a word of hope for both the bully and the bullied. In the context of a worship experience, we’ll examine Scripture and listen for the wisdom offered there. We’ll hear from those who have been bullied and also those who have a unique perspective on bullying. And we’ll seek ways to understand the bully, why they act as they do and to offer a way out.

The series will be held on the first four Sundays of November. We will meet at the Brownsburg Hampton Inn at 5:00. Here are the topics:

Nov. 2 – “Help me.  I’m being bullied.” A local high school student describes her experience as a lesbian.

Nov. 9 – “I’m not really a bully, am I?”  Plainfield police detective Alyson Ritter is our guest. She teaches classes on bullying prevention, suicide prevention and bystander intervention.

Nov. 16 – “Forgive that bully?  Really!”   How do we relate to the bully?

Nov. 23  – “Healing.” Recovery of from bullying is the topic.

Open Table United Church of Christ is a progressive, open and affirming new church exploration of the United Church of Christ.

 

Posted in Social Justice.

That Ah Ha! Moment By Marti McCoy

Every teacher recognizes the “ah ha moment” on a student’s face.  An art teacher’s experience goes one step beyond – when they’ve achieved that “right side of the brain” status that was popularized by the Betty Edwards’ 1979 book entitled Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  It’s that verbal-and-analytic-ignoring “nirvana” when an artist slips over into a world of lines, spaces, relationships, lights and shadows.

Although Edwards had her detractors in brain science, artists were quick to line up in her defense.  Many adult artists even call their creative hours therapeutic.  One of my new Saturday Morning Painters said just last week that she’d never had three hours go by so rapidly.  It takes you away from the chatter and drama of everyday life and offers a restful

Lil' Painter by Marti McCoy

Lil’ Painter by Marti McCoy – “This pensive little girl is just a representation of the “right side of the brain” look my students often got.”

place for the mind.  Ever think about why patients in mental wards are quickly offered art materials to express the emotions and turmoil they are feeling?  What that opportunity presents is a few minutes or hours away from , or purge of,  their problems.

It is pure joy for an art teacher to see the light go on when a child realizes why and how a famous artist has achieved a mood or expressed an idea that solves a question in their own minds.  One day at the Indianapolis Museum of Art I saw two of my fourth graders explain a rather abstract painting to a group of visitors from the Netherlands.  I, and the visitors, were so pleased and excited to view the work through the eyes of youngsters and see exactly what the artist had in mind.

Creativity brings such joy to both the creator and the viewer that it holds a very special place in every culture.  There is not even a word for “art” in some cultures, because everything they do is “an art!”

 

Posted in Web Updates.

Look at these questions – Creativity

Look at the questions. See if you find one that grabs you. Stick with it for a while. Let your mind wonder. Listen with openness to what surfaces. Explore other possibilities. Share what you have learned with another.

 

 

  1. What does it mean to be a Creative person?
  2. What are out of the box ways to be creative?
  3. what inspires me?
  4. What way can i be ish? (be creative without worries about perfection)
  5. what method of expressing myself do i love?
  6. What are ways of being creative i have yet to try?
  7. what are creative solutions to world problems?
  8. If I could have any superpower what would it be and why?
  9. How can I step outside my comfort zone today?
  10. what would it be like to be a child?
  11. what would i create if i had an unlimited budget?
  12. How can I feed my creativity?
  13. How can I make something i don’t enjoy (exercise, chores, etc..) fun?
  14. pick a personal or sociatal problem andthink of a different creative way to solve it every day.
  15. What is my current creative attitude?
  16. try to walk in the footsteps of someone who disagrees with you.
  17. How can i take a different route than USUALL? (think of different ways to understand this).
  18. Find a list of ways to be creative and do one thing each day.
Posted in Web Updates.

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Posted in Web Updates.

Out of the Stars by Robert Weston

Out of the stars in their flight, out of the dust of eternity,
here have we come,
Stardust and sunlight,
mingling through time and through space.

Out of the stars have we come,
up from time.
Out of the stars have we come.

Time out of time before time
in the vastness of space,
earth spun to orbit the sun,
Earth with the thunder of mountains newborn,
the boiling of seas.

Earth warmed by sun, lit by sunlight;
This is our home;
Out of the stars have we come.

Mystery hidden in mystery,
back through all time;
Mystery rising from rocks
in the storm and the sea.

Out of the stars, rising from rocks
and the sea,
kindled by sunlight on earth,
arose life.

Ponder this thing in your heart,
life up from sea:
Eyes to behold, throats to sing,
mates to love.

Life from the sea, warmed by sun,
washed by rain,
life from within, giving birth,
rose to love.

This is the wonder of time;
this is the marvel of space;
out of the stars swung the earth;
life upon earth rose to love.

This is the marvel of life,
rising to see and to know;
Out of your heart, cry wonder:
sing that we live.

Posted in Web Updates.